


through a glass, darkly

by tootiredmotel



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Attempted Sexual Assault, Bonding, Inspired by The Walking Dead, Iron Dad, Mentions of past sexual assault, Mild Gore, Multi, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark Friendship, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not entirely happy ending, Please be aware, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Tony Stark, basically skip westcott but you wont see his name, im sorry, momma spider, no zombies tho, or quinjetwrecked, other Avengers - Freeform, shipwrecked, wont be graphic but still
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 13:39:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16641204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tootiredmotel/pseuds/tootiredmotel
Summary: It's one of the few Avengers missions Peter's been on since the "black confetti" incident. And of course, something goes wrong. He, Tony, and Natasha are separated from the others and are stranded on an island with a damaged quinjet. Parker Luck, amiright?*PLEASE BE AWARE there is a certain part in this story that could possibly be triggering. *** means it's a scene. Just please use caution & be safe





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is just like me to start something new instead of working on finishing other things :)  
> This fic is entirely inspired by an episode of the walking dead, 4x16

Tony sat at the controls, desperately trying to get into contact with the others, knowing deep down he wouldn't be able to. Even Friday couldn't connect with anyone. Behind him, Natasha and Peter sat across from one another. Peter was practically covered from head to toe in a blanket, and the other two knew it was more of a comfort method rather than keeping warm. The heating and air conditioning hadn't failed yet. 

 

Tony listened as the two talked to each other. 

 

Natasha had started, asking how hungry he was on a scale of one to ten, and Tony knew he was getting to see a hidden, special side of the woman. She too had a soft spot for kids, after all.  Just because Peter was eighteen didn't mean he was suddenly a grown up, the avengers would always see him as their collective kid. Exhibit A? Peter's response. "Fifteen." 

 

Tony smiled to himself when Natasha responded back. "Twenty eight." He knew she wasn't actually that hungry, just engaging in some light bonding. 

 

"Okay, looks like it's time to hit the hay." Tony turned in time to see the other two roll their eyes and mutter something about dad behavior. Peter piped up though. "No luck with Friday?" The billionaire shook his head. "Nothing that can be done tonight anyways." 

 

Lately, Tony had been working on getting more sleep. After Morgan was born, he found he couldn't just keep himself up on the hours he wasn't working, he needed sleep and sustenance other than coffee. 

 

The two veteran members pulled out the futon-like set up, while Peter got the other blankets out. 

  
Regardless of the fact that the quinjet was impenetrable, Natasha offered to stay up for a bit. It ended up being both of the adults awake longer. The once again red headed woman was sat on the other side, blanket folded next to her. Tony and Peter took up the futon. It wasn't the roomiest, but Tony could never deny being close to the boy he considered a son. 

 

His basically-a-son that was cuddled up to his side, and drifted to sleep considerably fast. It made sense though, after the day they'd had, and the fact that Tony used his not-so-secret weapon: carding his fingers through the teenager's curls. 

 

"How's he doing? After, you know..." Yes, Tony did know what she was referring to. Peter wouldn't admit it, but he'd found out from May that his kid would still have nightmares sometimes. How when he first got home from being in the soul stone that he would wake up and think he was still in there. How he would be terrified of turning to ash and always felt the need to touch something solid. The man couldn't blame him. Hell, he still didn't like being handed things. And as if the first time around didn't do enough damage, going to space really screwed with him. But Tony also knew Natasha didn't have it easy either. They'd all lost Steve, he just didn't take into account how hard it'd hit for her. "He's doing better, I think." 

* * *

 

 

The next morning, Natasha had changed into a different set of clothes, but the shirt happened to be a bit big and she had to tie it. When Peter saw it, he had to stifle a small laugh. She of course caught it, and lightheartedly threw his clothes at him, knowing the spider suit couldn't be _that_ comfortable. "Do you have something to say about my extremely comfortable and attractive shirt?" The teen laughed, standing up to go and change in private. "No, no, no! It looks great." 

 

While Peter changed, Natasha went to check on Tony. "How's it going? Think we can get out of here or at least contact someone?" At the shake of the man's head, she nodded and sat up, placing her hands on her knees before standing up. "Peter and I are going to scope the place out while you work on this." When she saw the billionaire open his mouth to possibly protest, she cut him off. "Relax, papa bear, I'll keep an eye on him. We know what we're doing, and he could use the space. Probably getting cabin fever." 

 

She knew the change in tone was a good sign. "Huh. And here I thought cabin fever was reserved for cabins." That practically gave her the 'okay'. His lip twitched, signaling a smile so she kept it up. "Here _I_ thought the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist would take the time as an advantage to prove his genius." 

 

"Did you just compliment and burn me in one?" 

* * *

 

 

"What were you before all this? If you don't mind, I mean." Peter added the last part so it wouldn't feel like a total shut-down if she didn't answer.

 

"There was no 'before'." Peter raised an eyebrow, not understanding. Natasha didn't have to turn around and face him to know he was confused. "Your parents were Richard and Mary Parker. They were biological engineers at S.H.I.E.L.D.. Before that-Mary had a job interview at Stark Industries in 1999, but cancelled it after the New Years Eve party Tony was hosting, when she was approached by Fury the next day. That's where she met Richard. Not long after that, you were born. Up until 2006, they worked on a S.H.I.E.L.D. priority project, and then..." Peter knew what the 'and then' meant. What he didn't know was why she was telling him all of this. "You were taken in by your aunt and uncle, May and Ben Parker. A couple of years later, it was just you and your aunt." 

 

"My point is, since I know you're wondering, is that everything that happened before shaped you into who you are now. You can't change it, but you can distance it." 

 

They walked around in silence for a bit, looking around. 

 

It was almost an hour before Peter spoke up again. "What shaped you? Why do you want to distance it so bad?" The woman still didn't look back, not changing her pace either. "What makes you think I want to distance it."   
  


Peter jogged to catch up to her. "Because you left yours out. You left some stuff about me out. Stuff I want to distance." 

 

They kept walking in silence, until they found a waterfall. The two sat down, watching it, until Peter spoke up again, laying on his back with his arms folded beneath his head. 

***

"I was ten and I didn't really need a babysitter anymore, but May and Ben liked him and knew he could use the cash. He was a couple years older than me, sixteen I think. Anyways, he knew I was nerd, so his favorite activity was teaching me to be cool." Natasha finally looked at him, and this time Peter didn't look back. He stared up. "One day he brought these magazines, and said guys his age have them 'cause they're cool. So he showed me and said he wanted to try some of the things the people were doing in the magazine.

 

"I didn't want to 'cause I knew it wasn't something I shouldn't do, and I didn't want to anyways. He insisted. It...May and Ben found out what he did, so they kicked him out and told his parents. We couldn't file charges because..." Natasha's hand on his shoulder calmed him down, and he'd lie if he said it didn't feel nice. 

 

"Before I joined S.H.I.E.L.D., things happened that I didn't like. No one liked it, but they happened. Like I said, we can't change it, but we can distance it." 

 

The pair yet again sat in silence and eventually were back to making jokes, covering the deeply personal moment they had, however small and not at all descriptive. They still knew about that part of each other than some people did. They didn't even notice when someone came up behind them. 

 

"Now, I dunno about you, Morris, but I think we found ourselves some buddies."  


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ***MAJOR/MAIN WARNING IN THIS CHAPTER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember, *** is when a scene will start

**_EIGHT HOURS FROM NOW_ **

 

_Tony sat with his back against the tree, blood covering his hands and face._

 

_Across from him, Peter was asleep with his head in Natasha's lap, the woman carding her fingers through his hair in an attempt to comfort him._

 

_Neither of them had spoken in two hours, the last thing said was Natasha saying she didn't know how they could have got the drop on them. Tony didn't know either. He was just glad they were gone._

 

* * *

 

_**PRESENT** _

 

Tony had been working on getting the communications system rebooted and connecting Friday. So far, he had no such luck. So he decided to take a snack break, eating one of Wilson's granola bars. 

 

 

The man pulled out his useless cell phone, looking at the lock screen of Peter looking up and smiling at Morgan, who sat on his shoulders and was laughing at something the teenager had done. 

 

Peter and his friends had been on their way home from a trip to Pennsylvania when Morgan was born, and May had told the billionaire that the teen was pouty the way home because he had missed the birth of his little sister, but tried to hide it and keep up the goofy persona for his friends. In the kid's defense, Pepper had gone into labor earlier than expected. 

 

When Peter did finally arrive at the hospital, he had been so tired from the trip that he fell asleep in the mildly uncomfortable chair, still holding the newborn. No one had noticed at first because they were drinking the coffee May brought. The picture that had been taken to capture the sweetness was now framed in Morgan's nursery, as well as in her first scrap book, and also under an album in Tony's phone. 

 

Tony couldn't wait to see his wife and daughter when he got home. He would rent out the first In-N-Out he saw for himself, Pepper, Morgan, Peter, and Natasha, and they could load up on cheeseburgers. 

 

Speaking of which, this granola bar wasn't doing anything to satisfy him. Why not join the other two in finding something to eat? It's not like the quinjet could be immediately fixed. He'd discovered it needed approximately twelve hours to reboot before anything could actually be 'fixed'. 

 

So he stepped outside, hoping the two weren't too far and had found something, at least. 

 

* * *

 

Natasha and Peter had sat up immediately, stiff, because _how the hell did these people get the jump on them?_

 

"I'm Dale, this is my brother Morris. How the hell did you two get here?" The taller man, Morris, waved. 

 

The shorter man that spoke, Dale, took a step forward, causing Peter and Natasha to rise to their feet. Morris spoke up instead of letting the two answer. "There ain't nobody s'posed to be here but us. You got a 'copter or somethin'?" Dale gave Morris a look that said 'shut up before I make you shut up'. "If there was a 'copter here, we woulda seen and heard it. Look, you two best be gettin' on your way now before the others come 'round."

 

This time Peter spoke up. "Others?" The two men nodded. "They ain't good people. I'm warnin' you." 

 

* * *

 

 

It was getting to dusk, and Tony was starting to think maybe he should've waited on them at the quinjet, until he saw them running towards him. 

 

Peter and Natasha were sprinting, trying not to shout when they said they needed to go.  

 

"There's two guys, they said we needed to leave before the bad guys find us." Tony had a look of confusion plastered on his face. "There isn't anyone else here, we would've known when we first got here."

 

Natasha shook her head. "Tony, we need to get back to the quinjet. Whatever it is, we don't need the trouble. We can always come back later, with more of us, and not have a broken down mode of transportation." 

 

So the trio made their way back to the quinjet in hopes of not coming across the bad people Dale and Morris were warning them about. 

 

By the time they got back, it was dark. There was also a noise coming from the other side, and Peter went to check it out immediately. "No, Pete-" 

 

"It's a rabbit. It's stuck in a trap. How did-" "Oh deary me. That was meant for you." The three froze at the new voice and the sound of a gun's safety clicking. 

 

"Now, on the ground before I shoot his brains out. While you're at it, go ahead and slide your opens on over to Frisco over there." The man, Frisco, pointing a gun at Tony, nodded. The guy aiming at Natasha made a gesture, and suddenly three more guys came out from behind the the other side of the quinjet. 

 

Two of the guys were Dale and Morris. "Hold up." 

* * *

 

_**EIGHT HOURS FROM NOW** _

 

Dale came over to where Tony was sitting, and poured water over a cloth before handing it to the other man. 

 

Tony made no move to take it until Dale insisted. 

 

"Come on, man. You can't see yourself right now. He can." 

 

Thinking of the teenager inside, wrapped in blankets and trying to sleep, Tony took the cloth and began scrubbing his face. 

* * *

 

**_PRESENT_ **

**_***_ **

 

"There's nothing to wait for, man." Frisco answered as he collected Tony and Natasha's weapons. The one holding a gun at Peter's head, however, laughed. "The thing about nowadays is that we got nothing _but_ time. Say your piece, Morris." 

 

Morris stepped forward, laying his crossbow down. "These are good people. They ain't done nothing wrong, we should let 'em go."  At that, the leader frowned. "Now Dale, you know your brother better than any of us here. Is he being a moron or should we listen to him?" 

 

Dale nodded. "Morris is right. We should let 'em go." The leader frowned again. "Wrong answer, friend." Four of the men surrounding set their weapons aside and jumped on the brothers, starting to beat them. 

 

Frisco and the leader traded places, Tony tried to stand up, to help his kid, but the leader stopped him. "Lou?" The leader, _Lou_ , nodded. "Go for it."  Frisco started fighting Peter to the ground and Tony wasn't having it. "Leave him alone!" Lou laughed. "See, this island? Is ours. We claimed it and now we're claiming you." 

 

Natasha tried to pull the gun out from the other man, but was hit in the face with considerable strength, knocking her back down. Lou smiled at her, and it made her sick. "Oh don't you worry, it just ain't your turn yet." 

 

Peter was struggling against Frisco, who was inhumanly strong. "Let go of me!" Frisco grinned, as if the struggling excited him. "Stop your squirming." Not matter how many times Peter tried to move the larger man off of him, the guy just wouldn't stop. 

 

Tony saw this, and it continued to piss him off. While Lou was laughing at the scene, Tony picked then the headbutt him. It sent Lou back a bit, so Natasha tried to get the other armed man, but he then kicked her in the stomach. She knew this strength couldn't possibly come from a normal person. Lou got up quickly, stopping Tony from getting to Peter, who was still struggling on his back.

 

"Oh, this is going to be so much worse for you." Lou threw a punch before tackling the billionaire. Frisco managed to turn Peter, gripping his arms tightly, and the teenager was panicking. This guy was strong enough that even his own strength wasn't helping him. He heard metal clicking together behind him.  _No, no, no, no, no, no, no!_

 

Across from them, Lou had Tony trapped against him. "Get off of him!" Lou laughed. "What the hell are you gonna do now, sport?" Tony stopped thinking at this point, and lunged forward, ripping Lou's throat with his own teeth and then spitting out. Frisco had stopped, looking on in shock. 

 

The man pointing the gun at Natasha was no longer looking, distracted by what had just happened, so she took the opportunity to steal his gun, shooting him dead. 

 

Across from them, the men beating Dale and Morris stopped while the two were on the ground, looking on. Dale was quick on his feet though, and shot one two of the men while Natasha shot the other two. 

 

Tony and Natasha made their way to remaining, Frisco, who had his knife against Peter's throat, holding him up against him. "I'll kill him. I'll-I'll kill him!" The red headed woman aimed her gun at the man, about to pull the trigger, but Tony stopped him. "He's mine." 

 

Frisco threw Peter down, attempting to get away before Tony enacted revenge. "Stay back, man!" Tony kept going though, and began attacking the man with a viciousness and ferociousness of a parent scorned. 

 

While it was happening, Natasha collected Peter in her arms, shielding him from the sight, and muttering soft reassurances it that it would be okay, they would be okay. 

 

**__**

* * *

 

 

**_EIGHT HOURS LATER_ **

 

Dale sat a couple feet away from Tony, wiping his own knuckles on another rag. "Morris and I-we're, I'm human. They...I don't know if they were aliens or mutants or somethin'. But they were too damn strong and tough to be human." 

 

Tony didn't respond, continuing to clean himself up. 

 

"Morris and I came here with our younger brother, Trevor. We came for our huntin' trip. Trevor yelled, saying he got a buck. Morris and I, we ran to see it. Trevor had never gotten anything that big before. Someone got to him before we did. Frisco and Danny, the guy aiming at the lady, they were arguing over the buck, sayin' they claimed it first. Lou took us in and told us the rules. That's when we found out what really happened to Trevor. Tried to do somethin', so they beat on Morris a bunch, hit his head. S'why he's not as fast as he used to be. It's just me now. I'm gonna stay here." 

 

* * *

 

 

**_TEN HOURS LATER/PRESENT (caught up)_ **

 

Tony sat at the control panel of the quinjet, waiting for the next two, seemingly never-coming hours, so he could reboot the system. 

 

"Tony," Natasha was petting a sleeping Peter's hair, "anyone would've done that. You were protecting him." 

 

The billionaire didn't nod or shake, he sat facing the panels in silence. 

 

* * *

 

 

The two hours came, and Tony went outside to see that Dale had moved the bodies of the men before he took off. Without another moment wasted, he began checking the exterior again, just in case. 

 

Meanwhile, Peter had woken up and was eating his gummy snacks. Natasha pulled out three water bottles, knowing they could use the hydration. 

 

Peter hadn't said anything since he woke up, other than stating he was hungry. She didn't want the teen to dissociate, she knew she had to get him talking. 

 

"You didn't ask about what happened, before my S.H.I.E.L.D. days. That what is important, no matter what I said earlier. But you didn't ask. Were you respecting the privacy or just guessing what happened?" It wasn't really a question, but she needed to get a response out of him. 

 

"Well, we see through a glass darkly, and all that." Peter opened the water bottle, seeing the woman's raised eyebrow. "You've been hanging out with Murdock too much." 

 

When he didn't answer, she kept talking. "He told me that same thing. 'Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.'"  This time Peter raised an eyebrow, twisting the cap back on. "Maybe you've been hanging out with Murdock too much." 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy

**Author's Note:**

> please leave constructive reviews on things I can work on! thank you in advance!


End file.
